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TIT BITS.

All is not attractive that is good. Iron is useful though it does not sparkle like the diamond. Gold has not the fragrance of a flower. So different people have different modes of excelleuce, and we must have au eye to all. The earth has been compared in a homely way to a pot of porridge which, after thorough boiling, has been taken off the fire. During the process of boiling, the escape of steam keeps the porridge in constant ebullition aud eruption. But when cooling sets in and leads to the formation of a crust or skin on the surface, the steam, which cannot then ao readily escape, finds its way out in intermittent puffs. As the skin thickens, the resistence it offers proportionately increases; the steampuffs become fewer, but larger ; and the last spurts of porridge ejected are sometimes bigger and are thrown out farther than any that preceded them. He who brings ridicule to bear against truth, finds in his hand a biade without a hilt— more likely to cut himself than anyone else. If we would see things aright, we must see them from the poiut of view of others as well as from our own. This is the godlike quality we ought to cultivate even if we can never perfect it; and this is the essence of justice. How can you learn self-knowledge ? Never by meditation, but best by iiction. Try to do your duty, and you will soon find what you are wot th. What is your duty? The exigeucy of the day. — Goethe. The greater the difficulty, the more glory is there in surmounting it. Skilful pilots gaiu their reputation from storms and tempests. Censure is the tux a man payeth to the public for being emiuent. — Swift. Provision is the foundation of hospitality, and thrift the fuel of magnificence. — Sir Philip Sidney. j "It is hard for a rich man to die," says a philosopher. Yes, but it is slightly harder for a poor man to live. Pleasure soon exhausts us and itself also ; but endeavour never does. — Kichter. He must needs be very impatient who would repine at death in the society of all things that suffer by it. — Sir Thomas Browne. Let every man be occupied, and occupied in the highest employment of which his nature is capable, and die with the consciousness that he has done his besjt. — Sydney Smith. The eyes of other people are the eyes that ruin us. If all but myself were blind, I should want neither fine clothes, tine houses, nor fine furniture.— franklin. Shukespeare gives us golden apples in silver dishes. Wo get, indeed, the silyer dishes by studying his works; but unfortunately we have only potatoes to put into them. — Goethe. The wealth of man is the number of things which he loves and blesses, which he is loved and blessed by, — Carlyle. There can bo poetry in the writings of but few men ; it ought, however, ■ to be in the hearts and lives of all. — Eliza Cook. It is worth remembering that no newspaper or journal is printed especially for one person any more than a hotel is built especially to please one guest People who become displeased with something they find in a newspaper should remember that the very thing that displeases them is exactly the thing that will please somebody who has just as much interest in the paper as they have. Present time and future may be considered as rivals ; and he who solicits the one must expect to be discountenanced by the other. — Sir Joshua Reynolds. The secret of thrift is knowledge Knowledge of domestic economy saves income; knowledge of sanitaiv laws saves health and life. — KingsleyT When you hear a man continually talking about himself you can make up your mind that bis brain is not large enough to grasp any outside facts. The true test of a great man — that at least which must secure his place among the highest order of great men — is bis having been in advance of his age. The mercantile spirit levels all distinctions, as all are beauties in the dark. — Charles Lamb. A lawyer's dealings should be just and fair, Honesty shines with great advantage thtre. — Cowper. Without strong affection and humanity of heart, and gratitude to that Being whose code is mercy and whose great attribute is benovolence to all things that breathe, true happiness can never be attained. — Dickens. Fortune, Justice, Love, are blind. So at least runs the legend ; but most men's experience goes to piove that .they not unfrequently peer from beneath their bandages, and wink a wicked eye at a favourite candidate. Setting this aside — if these three deities are blind, so is Pride — stoneblind to others ; seeing only itself, conscious ouly of its own sensations, contemplating its own centre' like the Buddha who sits on the lotus leaf. — Temple Bar. A STEING OF MOTTOES. For Doctors' Commons : Where there's a will there's a way. For Publicans : Love me, love my grog. For Cooks : Onion is strength. For Bakers : Early to bed and early to rise. For Undertakers : Always say die. For Thioves : True as steel. For Hairdressers: Two heads are better than one. For Fishmongers : Confession is good for the soul. For Tailors : True as a needle. For Lawyers: Holy writ. For Garrotters: Neck or nothing. For Opti1 ciauß : Mind your eye. For retired

authors : Above proof. For cheesemongers: High and mighty. For Unsuccessful Poets : Hard lines. For Cabmen: Hire and hire. For Old Maids : Marry come up. For Firemen : Gone to blazes. For the Inmates of Bedlam : Out of sight out ofmiud. For Betting-men : Where's the odds. For Millers : None bo dusty. For Milkmen : Chalk it up. For Postmen : True to the letter. For Gunners : Off like a shot. For Violin-players : Fiddle-de-dee. For Pork-butchers : The whole hog or none. For Ugly People: The ..Plain Truth. RUSSIAN OFFENDERS. A young poet had written a most sciinilolis poem, in which he had described and libelled not only the Empress, but also all the Grand Dukes and Duchesses. Some one (the Censor or the Preßs) went and told the Empress. '* The man had better be sent off to Siberia at once," he said ; "it is not a case for delay." " Oh, no," said the Empress ; " wait a little, but tell the inau I desire to ste him at six o'clock to-morrow evening." When the poor man was told this, he felt as if the last hour was come, and that the Emperor (Alexander II.) must intend himself to pronounce a sentence of eternal exile. He went to the palace, and was shown through all the grand state-rooms, one after another, with out seeing anyone, till at last he arx-ived at a small common- place room at the end of them all where there was a single table with a lamp upon it, and here he saw the Empress, the Emperor, and all the Grand Dukes and Duchesses ' whom he had mentioned in his poem. " How do you do sir ?" said the Emperor. " I hear you have written a" most beautiful poem, and I have scut and have invited all the Grand Dukes and Duchesses to come, that they may have the pleasure of hearing you." Then the poor man prostrated himself at the Emperor's feet. "Send me to Siberia, sire," he said ; " force me to become a soldier ; only do not compel me to read that poem." " Oh, sir, you are cruel to refuse me the pleasure, but you will not be so ungallant as to iefiu-0 the Empress the pleasure of hearing your verses, and bhe will ask you herself." And the Kmpress asked him. When he had finished she said, " I do not think he will write any more verses about us again. He need uot go to Siberia just yet." — A nobleman had entered iuto a conspiracy against the Emperor, and was sentenced to Sibeiia. His eyes wore bandaged, aod he was put iuto a dark carriage, and for seven days and nights they travelled on and on, only stopping to take fuod. At last he felt they must have reached Siberia, and in the utmost anguish he perceived that the carriage stopped, and the bandage taken off his eyes and ... he was in his own home ! He had been driven round and round St. Petersburg the whole time ; but the fright quite cured him. WH AT DIFFERENT CHINS DENOTE. A sharp indentation immediately above the chin shows good understanding. A pointed chin is a sign of craftiness, wisdom, and discretion. A soft, fat, double chin shows epicurism and love of sensual pleasures of all sorts ; it also indicates an indolent temperament. We never Bee such chins in persons of au energetic, restless nature Oharles James Fox, who was excessively indolent, had this chin even in youth. A flat chin shows a cold, hard nature ; a small chin indicates weakness, waut of will powei*, and cowardice. A retreating chin is a sign of silliness, and if the brow is shallow, of imbecility. Where the space between the nose and the red part of the lip is short and very sharply cut it indicates refinement and delicacy of perception, but not much power — no force of intellect ; where this space is unusually short, it denotes silliness and weakness of purpose. A rather long but not flat upper lip, especially where the serpentine line of the middle of the mouth is much denned, and the middle of the lip droops to the lower lip, and is very flexible, denotes an eloquent person. We see this form of upper lip in the bust of Domosthenes, the greatest of Grecian orators ; in Cicero, whose eloquence was unsurpassed in his age ; in Fox, whose powers of oratory were great ; in the demagogue Wilkes, in Lord Palmerston, and numerous other orators. A very long 1 upper lip, which is flat, and which belongs to a Btraight and formless or too thick-lipped mouth, is a sign of a low and vicious type of character. Almost all faces of great criminals have this defect, combined 'with massive jaws and high cheek-bones, which last defect is, both Lavater and" Penati (a great French writer on the subject of physiognomy) tells us, a sign of rapacity. A round chin with a dimple in it denotes kindliness and benevolence, a tender and unselfish nature. In a very massive double chin the dimple increases the quality of love of sensual pleasure. A square and massive chin shows strong perseverance and determined will. RUSSIA AT THE GATES OF INDIA. A French paper has the following : — The year 1886 has witnessed the completion of a marvellous enterprise which, in the boldness of conception and the importance of its results, is destined to take rank with the piercing of the Isthmus of Suez, the establishment of trans-oceanic telegraphy, and the formation of the Pacific Kailway. A few da}'s hence the iron highway which Russia has constructed across the deserts of Central Asia will have reached the gates of India. ... By means of this line Russia will have the control of Herat and Candahar, and may ab once throw rm army into Persia or Afghanistan, or even invade the Peuinsulfc of India, while England is separated fioin her Indian possessions by a sea voyage of twenty days at the very least ! Nor is the commercial importance of the new line less

tnan its strategical. . . Moreover, this colossal enterprise has been quietly carried out, ibr Russia Lati-s publicity. NEWS IN BRIEF. Two hen 8 wallows were recontly taken from their broods at Pavia, Italy, and released in Milan. It took them just 13 minutes to get back to their nests again, so that their average rate of flight must have been 87£ miles an hour. For £50 a man, whose business was the extermination of vermin, cleared a large brewery of va&t quantities of flies which had collected by the million in the beer hogsheads. " 801 l these hogsheads into the iceroom," he said. The barrels were rolled in. " Freeze 'em !" said the vermin exterminator. The brewery men were surprised that they had not thought of that simple remedy. They tried it, and in a short time swept out countless numbers of frozen flies. The consumption of ardent spirits in Belgium has nearly doubled in 14 years. There is a place for the sale of intoxicating liquors to every 44 inhabitants. A bronze statue of Frederick the Great, double life size, representing him in his traditional attitude, with crooked stick-, &c, has been erected in the " Hall of Glory." The sculptor has been most successful. It is not generally known that gold mining is done in Scotland. Gold is found in small quantities on the property of the Lead Hills Silver Lead Mining and Smelting Company (Limited), in Lanarkshire, and Lord Hopetoun, whose marriage has just been celebrated, received as a wedding present from the miners a nugget of 355 grainß. Clark Eussell thinks that some vessels have gone a-missing in ways not a little romantic and striking — as from being set on fire by a meteor, one instance of •which occurred on the Pacific coast in 1885. Much excitement has been caused in London by a noble oarl sending a cartel to the very lively son and heir of an earl. ' The events to which tho quarrel referred took place at Monte Carlo, where tho parties wero on terms of intimacy. The challenge was not accepted, but elicited a letter of abject apology. Dr. Smorodintzeff, of Ekaterimburg, states that he has seen two cases of scarlatina in whioh the infection had been transmitted through bank-notes. A woman named Stone, living in Manchester, who had been confined instructed the nurse to wrap the baby in wadding for the purpose of warmth. The nurse accidentally set fire to the wadding, and the baby was shockingly burnt. The nurse's clothes were set on fire, and the father was also seriously burnt. The Emperor of China's new throne is to have its foundation and pedestal made of gold bricks. A. costly silver salver -has been presented to tho Primate of Ireland at Belfast, in commemoration of his 37 years' work as Bishop of Down. The growth of wool in South Africa as an export may be seen from the fact it rose from 33,000 pounds in 1830 to 6,000,000 pounds in 1850, and to 48,800,000 pounds in 1872. This was its highest limit. Less than 25 per cent of the population of Spain can read and write, but school facilities are being rapidly extended. The Indians of the Assiniboino Keserve carried off the first prizes for wheat, barley, turnips, potatoes, and seed onions at an agricultural show. Mr. Suarry, veterinary surgeon, of Norton, Yorkshire, has amputated the hind leg of a valuable shorthorn cow which had met with an accident, and successfully supplied it with an artificial limb. A toast that brought down the house was given by Miss Kate Field at the banquet of the Loyal Legion, in "Washington, lately, and was, " The men— God bless them." The Primitive Methodists of Horwich, near Bolton, had a special attraction for Sunday evening service. J. Billington, who has once officiated as executioner, was announced as hangman from Farnworth, to officiate with Hallelujah Jimmy, from Kearsley. The members of the congregation resented tho grotesque announcement, and the hangman had a meagre auditory. Sir Charles and Lady Lowther were fined £10 each for not attending as witnesses in a case at the Wakefield County Court. Subpoenas had been served upon them at Wilton Castle, near Redcar, and conduct money supplied them. They, however, did not put in an appearance, and it was stated in explanation that they are both over 80 years of age, that Sir Charles Lowther is totally blind, and that Lady Lowther is very deaf. It is at present being attempted to acclimatise in Europe a plant from New Grenada, which might fitly be called the ink plant. It is called Coriaria thimipolia, and furnishes a juice called by the natives "chun." This liquid, at first red, assumes a beautiful black tint in coming in contact with the air, and may be used as writing ink without the slightest preparation. True porcelain has been made in Japan for three centuries. Old Sevres is not considered a porcelain at all. It is composed of lime, clay, sand, nitre, and soda. Old Saxony is true porcelain. All Chinese wares are judged of the same grade. Alfred Krupp owns probably the largest establishment in the world. Tho works within the town of Essen cover more than 500 acres. He employs nearly 20,000 men, who with their families make nearly 70,000 persons supported by the factory. Krupp owns 547 iron mines in Germany, and f our ocean steamers. Over the works run 42 miles of railway, working 28 engines and 883 trucks. There are 69 horses with 491 waggons. There are also 40 miles of telegragh wires, with 35 stations, and 55 Morse apparatus. A Berlin paper has computed that at the recent dinner of the Congress of Naturalists in that city there were consumed 20001b of beef, 10001b of Balmon, 10001b of lobster, 700 ducks j and 200 beef tongues. The produc- J tion of a single sauce, the Bernaise, ( required 2001b of butter and 1000 j eggs. There were 250 waiters in j attendance. I

General Grant left a legacy of £1000 to his friend and physician, Dr. Douglas. Somo weeks after the General's deatli, Dr. Douglas rendered bis bill for attendants, vrhioh amouutedto £1400, and it was paid ; liut when it came to paying the legacy it was announced that " the family " held that the legacy was to be used in liquidating the claim. This seems rather shabby, and the courts would hardly support such a view; but Dr. Douglas declines to stir in the matter in consequence of his great regard for the General. The Bussian Government has entered into a contract with a Belgian company for the construction of a maritime arsenal at Nicolaieff and the establishment of large iron works at Batoum. Nearly 3000 people marched in procession to the battlefield of Mentanna the other day to celebrate the anniversary of the combat between the Papal Zouaves and the Garibaldians in 1867. Speeches were made by Signor Sei6inith Doda, a former Garibaldian officer and now a deputy, and by others. In the canton of Zurich, in Switzerland, there is a law which requires tho proprietors of land to catch two quarts of cockchafers every third year, when they are supposed to appear. If any proprietor fails to respond he is fined quite heavily. It was officially announced that 1886 was tho cockchafers j'ear. The proprietors are in despair, for the cockchafers have not put in an appearance, but the law is imperative. The amount of emery stone annually shipped from Smyrna to Great Britain, the United States, France, Germany, and Belgium averages 7000 tons, the relative quantity consumed in each country being in the order named. A curious feature of New York life is the ladies' receptions held daily in gorgeously appointed barrooms. One establishment receives regularly every morning from 8 o'clock uutil 11. A reporter found more than 30 femalos in this place tho other morning, and all of high rospectability. The business of the bar goes ou as usual during these visits. Thero is a Lutheran Church in Madison County, Va., built in 1748, whose pastor is paid his snidry from the products of a farm conveyed to - the church for that purpose at its establishment. Before the war it also owned a number of slaves. Its communion service was the gift of the King of Sweden, and a fine organ was received from the citizens of London about theisame time — a century ago. A recent Treasury decision is to the effect that certain engines, machinery, and tools brought into tho United States by an immigrant for use in a manufacturing establishment are not entitled to free entry, inasmuch as the free list for immigrants' effects, &c, expressly excludes " machinery or other articles importod for use in any manufacturing establishment, or for sale." It will surprise a good many people to learn that Bussia, in respect of the Bilk industry, takes the fifth place among European nations, coming next after France, Germany, Great Britain and Switzerland. The centres of tho industry are the province of Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Poland, and the export in 1884 of silk goods amounted to 309,881 roubles in value, while the imports totalled 2,766,785 roubles. The field of woman's work is constantly enlarging. Saratoga has a woman bill-poster who handles the paste-brush with the skill of an expert. She inherited the business from her husband. At Bombay a society has been organised to propagate hostility to Mohammedanism, and to inculcate a general knowledge of the true t Hindu religion. A telegram from Chambery states that a panther - escaped from a menagerie there and created a panic in the town. The animal attacked several persons, and a policeman, who was literally scalped by a stroke of its paw, has since died in the hospital. Another policeman was seriously bitten. The panther was eventually captured. The Grand Lodge of Masons of Kentucky has decided that salmon-keep-ing is an offence against the order, and shall be punished as such. Henry Gladstone, the ex-Premier's ! third son, who is serving with the British army in Burmah, had a narrow escape recently. With a party of boatmen and some soldiers, he was compelled to run the gauntlet in a launch on^he Irrawaddy of the sustained fire of 1500 armed Dacoits. There occurred lately the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Atlantic cable of 1886. There are now ten cables spanning the Atlantic that are in working order; and where one message was sent formerly there are now four ; and the tariff which started 20 years ago at £1 a word fa now 6d ! LADY MONCKTON AS AN ACTRESS. Thero is still another faabionable lady on the stage — Lady Monckton, the wife of the Town Clerk of London. For many yeara she played with companies of amateurs, and was associated with a club of which Sir Charles Young was the moving spirit. Sir Charles had written many plays, but could not get them acted. He therefore produced them himself, for the benefit of charities. In moßt of them Lady Monckton took a leading pait. Last year, having hawked " Jim the Penman " all over the place, with his usual ill-luck, he at last induced the managers of the Haymatfket to let him try it at a matinee at their theatre, which was just then in rather a bad way. The piece was produced with Lady Monckton in the principal role. It pleased the critics, and the management proposed to Sir Charles that they should put it into their nightly bill. Sir Charles agreed to the proposal, with the condition that if Lady Monckton chose to join the profession and eschew the amateur stage she i should have an oiler to continue tbe J part of Jim the Penman's wife. Lady ' | Monckton accepted tbe position, acd I is now at the height of a long run, I during which she has displayed coni eiderable ability.

ITEMS FOR LADIES. Tulle is entering extensively inlo the evening dresses* for debutantes, and has a soft, simple efluct when ; mingled, as it often is, with clusters of bahy ribbons. The latter are sometimes supplied in heights to { border closely kilted flounces of tulle. J Shaded beads appear upon others, aud, thanks to some new process, these no j longer incur the risk of removal by , friction, while a bordering to match j is produced by means of floss silk. : A tulle in a shade of buttercup was j draped with folds of faille, and had j -long sprays of bluets and grass carried from the shoulder to the edge of the skirt. A great deal of striped skirting is being utilised for the school and J walking dresses of girls between the agea of 9 and 16. A woman cannot love a man she feels to be her inferior ; love without veneration and enthusiasm is only friendship. — Madame Dudevant. Ladies at least young ladies, are still wearing the striped jerseys with full fronts, which have been, in light colours, so fashionable for tennis dresses ; this autumn they are also being made iv plain dark colours like acajou and navy. Among the new mantle fabrics may bo mentioned velours perle, Montenegrin and Othello. Volours perle is a beautiful variety of woollen velours frise, with the pattern partly outlined with small beads of tho same shade. Beaded woollen fabrics are a feature of the season. Street costumes, as well as visiting toilettes, are often worn now without any outer vetement, as the redingote takes tho place of a pardessus, or a tight-fitting habit bodice tho place of a jacket, and this fashion quite takes the fancy of young married ladies and young girls iv their teens. It must not, however, be forgotten that large warm uraple wraps are put on when driving. Very large metal buttons with raised chaaed motifs, or bordered with fur, as also passementerie and indeed embroidered, aro taken to trim many of the new cloak models. It should be borne in mind that mantles and cloaks are not trimmed profusely this winter, but the stuffs and tissues employed are therefore richer and handsomer. The following is given as a cheap mode of rendering fabrics uninflammable:—Four parts of borax and three parts sulphate of magnesia are shaken up together just before being required. The mixture is then disaolved iv from 20 to 3U parts of warm water. Into the resulting solution the articles to be protected from fire are immersed, and when they are thoroughly soaked, they are wrung out and dried, preferably in the open air. The round hats at present are modifications of tho bolero, made in French grey, blue, or serpent felt, the plume and drapery all matching ; they are also made in velvet. A lovely bolero for a young lady, to accompany a toilette of French grey vigogue and pekiu plush to match, is of French grey felt, the brim lined with plush. In front is a graceful drapery of plush, in the midst of which is nestled a plume and aigrette of mixed grey and white feathers, secured by a scarlet humming bird. A new dress improver hails from Paris. It is of a brilliant red colour, somewhat larger than the old mattress, well stuffed, bnt very light, aud, in the French capita], it supersedes steels. For a loose dress for an invalid nothing could possibly be lighter or more comfortable than the eider, which has a soft fluffy surface, is no weight, and is principally made on a grey tone, and cut en Princcste. Borne of the newest fans are most exquisitely painted on gauze by artiste of recognised merit, other* have the initials carried out in brilliants, while others display an ohlique of Valenciennes lace, or birds and butterfles, which, being of some solid material on the gauze, stand out in bold relief. The last new bridal fan has orange blossoms painted on it. Spangled fans in all colourings are worn; glitter is an important feature in present modes. A curious button takes tho form of a palette, with the colours represented by gems. The favourite hyrau at English weddings now is "The Voice that Breathed o'er Eden." Quite short tight-fitting jackets of velvet or knotted cloth are worn by young ladies, the former being trimmed fur, and the latter with braid ornaments. A WOMAN'S BIBLE. • Very few people know of a remarkable enterprise that is being undertaken in New Jersey in the shape of a female revision of the Bible. The work is being carried on in this manner : In a richly-fur-nished drawingroom about a broad table sit half-a-dozen women, with intelligent faces and busy pens. Each one has a cheap copy of the Bible, -which she reads carefully and occasionally clips out a verse and pastes It at the top of a long sheet of white paper. The others then cut out the Bame verse from their Bibles, and and dispose of it in the same manner. "With this before them they begin to discuss it in turn. One of these commentators is an excellent Greek and Hebrew scholar. Another is profoundly learned in current Bible criticisms, while still another has gone through with care and has at her fingers' ends all the great commentaries of Henry, Scott, Dr. Adam Clarke, and others. After each verse has been thoroughly discussed, each •woman writes undor it what she has, to say, and the sheets are then passed on to a secretary. This secretary is a recent graduate from Vassar. She cuts out this much-talkod-of verse from still another Bible, puts it at the top of a larger sheet of paper, and then appends it under the notes of all the learned lady commentators. When asked what was the object of this revision, one of the ladies, who inspire and carries on this tremendous labour, explained that they were doing what might be called a feminine revision of the Scriptures. '■ We find," she said, "in going over the Old and New Testaments, that about one-tenth of the Bible touches, in one way or another, upon women. We wish to know whether the male readings, translations, and interpretations have been strictly fair to us, and in v spirit friendly to our sex. We and a great many other women have our doubts on the subject, and so we propose issuing what may be called 'The Women's Bible.' On our Revising Committee ■it able women from England and America." A well-known publisher haß

agreed to issuo the revision when it ; ib completed, and by next summer tho " Woman's Biblo " will be given to the public. — New York Herald.

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